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Hokuto no Ken episodes
The Hokuto no Ken manga by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara was adapted into two animated television series produced by Toei Animation. The original series, simply titled , lasted 109 episodes, which aired on Fuji TV from October 11, 1984 to March 5, 1987, adapting the first 136 chapters of the original manga. A sequel series, Hokuto no Ken 2, took over the previous series' time slot and lasted 43 episodes, airing from March 12, 1987 to February 18, 1988, which adapts chapters 137 to 210 (the remainder of the manga was not adapted). The original opening and ending themes for the series up to episode 82 are Ai o Torimodose!! (愛をとりもどせ!!, "Taking Back Love") and , both performed by the band Crystal King. From episodes 83 to 109, the opening and ending themes are changed to Silent Survivor and Dry Your Tears by Kodomo Band. For the Hokuto no Ken 2 portion of the series (episodes 110-152), the opening and ending themes are Tough Boy and Love Song by Tom Cat. ''Fist of the North Star'' The Bloody Cross Arc This portion of the series adapts Chapters 1-25 of the original manga, adapting the story from the beginning to the battle between Kenshiro and Devil's Rebirth. The order of the events and how they transpire were changed in the anime, so that the final battle between Kenshiro and Shin does not occur until the very end. Fūun Ryūko Hen Fūun Ryūko Hen (風雲龍虎編 Chapter of Wind, Clouds, Dragons and Tigers) adapts Chapters 26 to 83 of the manga, covering the story from the introduction of Rei to the final battle between Rei and Yuda. Ransei Hadō Hen Ransei Hadō Hen (乱世覇道編 Martial Conquest of Troubled Times chapter) adapts the manga from Chapters 84 to 109, adapting the story from the Souther arc to the Ryuga arc. Saishūshō Saishūshō (最終章 The Final Chapter), the final portion of the original series, adapts Chapters 110 to 136, covering the story from the introduction of the Five Chariots to the final battle between Kenshiro and Raoh. ''Fist of the North Star 2'' The Celestial Emperor Arc This arc adapts Chapters 137 to 160 of the original manga. The Land of Asura Arc This arc adapts Chapters 161 to 210 of the original manga. Releases Japanese Although the series has never been fully released on VHS in Japan, Toei released three hour-long "digest" episodes on VHS during the late 1980s, composed of clips of episodes from Chapters 1, 2, and 4 of the first series. The complete series has been collected on DVD in Japan, in a boxed collection known as the Super Premium Box and in 26 individually released discs containing 5-6 episodes per volume. A three volume DVD series, the Kyūkyoku Retsuden series, which features key episodes of the series. Toei later produced an HD Remaster Edition of the Hokuto no Ken DVD set, which was released on March 28, 2008. English The first 36 episodes were licensed to Manga Entertainment and released in English dubbed and subtitled formats on VHS and DVD. Manga Entertainment initially released the series in eight VHS volumes spanning only 24 episodes in 1999 and later released all 36 episodes in five DVD volumes in 2003. The English dub of the show features a new soundtrack provided by Reinforced Records and voice acting by Animaze. The original opening and ending sequences were replaced by in-house versions produced by Manga Entertainment with music by Mike Egan. The dubbed version aired on Showtime Beyond in the US and on Channel 4 and the Sci-Fi Channel in the UK. On May 2008, Toei began releasing English-subtitled episodes of the TV series on the internet. All 152 episodes are available on various video streaming services. Discotek released the complete TV series in North American in four different DVD sets. Reception A reviewer of DVD Vision Japan stated that the English voice acting was "terrible, even for an early dub" and compared David Lucas' performance as Shin unfavorably to his role as Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop. The same reviewer also states that the music by Mike Egan is mediocre. Mike Toole of Anime Jump proclaimed that the drum n' bass soundtrack is "occasionally nice, but usually just obtrusive". Chadwick Ngan of EX Anime wrote that the "American voice actors' efforts are commendable" and that the new opening and ending themes "aren't bad, but nothing to get excited about either." References External links *[http://mv.avex.jp/hokutonoken/ Hokuto no Ken HD Remaster DVD set] at Avex Category:Anime